Poems in the Night

A Knights Prayer

Out through the windowpane,
The darkness stands alone,
And the black river rolls ever on,
Towards it’s distant home.

Starlight overshadows all,
Mid the clear night sky,
As moonlight shines through the pines,
Standing like weary sentinels uttering a little sigh.

And as I look out in my memory,
I stop to think of you,
And of the gift you gave to me,
The time I spent with you.

And now I will say to the Lord above,
Thank you God for a fellow Christian’s love,
One who shared with me a little of their day,
One I now mention to you as I kneel to pray.

Happiness and honor give to them,
And let them know for sure,
That a fellow Christian prays for them,
On a pine clad distant shore.

We are all disciples of the one true God,
And this simple prayer is offered to our Lord,
King of the universe please look down,
And bless with peaceful sleep that lovely golden crown.

Wishing on a Star

If you walk outside tonight and see a star you like it is ok to make a wish. But better still is to take a moment in prayer to God who put it there in the first place. He can answer it . . .

Thoughts

Have you ever wondered what a wonderful gift a simple thought is? Where it come from and where it goes? Is it really ever lost or just stored away somewhere in your memory?

Some people have turned one thought into financial empires and still others a single thought has led them into depravity and utter misery. The power of thought in the human mind is a powerful tool and that is why the bible tells us to protect and guard our thoughts not only daily but at all times.

Will thinking make you rich? No. A goal without a plan is just a dream I believe is the saying first credited to President Ronald Reagan. Yet you say to me that Napoleon Hill wrote a book called "think and grow rich". Yes he did but he did not tell you in his book how this operates. He hinted at it and provided a technique he credited to Andrew Carnegie as the first holder of the secret. Was he really the first? What about a man called Isaac? And did Mr. Carnegie really share his secret with Mr. Hill?

Many will offer you programs and seminars to unlock your mind and lead you to riches, but do they really work? One simply has to take a look at late night or early morning TV to see the amount of advertising dollars and air-time spent on these schemes designed to remove money from your pocket book or wallet.

So what is the power and secret of thought as related to wealth? I recommend you read as a man thinketh by James Allen who is the father of observation of thoughts and their resultant power and impact on peoples lives. Once you have read this book then ask yourself the question what was Isaac's secret for producing wealth? The true answer is written in red in the bible.


Have a wonderful and thoughtful day!

The Wedding Vow

It is early evening and the candles have just been lit even though the late summer sun is still shinning through the open windows of the great hall.

All of the guests are seated and even the king has come to bless this marriage with his seal of approval. It is time for the groom to make his speach but as he stands to address the knights, lords and ladies of the court the presence of a higher king comes over him. He turns to his new bride and says these words from deep in his soul and with all his heart . . .


The Wedding Vow
Sir James Heart Speaks

This day I give you three gifts,
My God, my love, my trust,
From these all else flows,
I promise I will love you more tomorrow than I do today,
And count you as the blessing above all blessings,
And will treasure you always.

This day I give you three promises,
I will always be beside you,
I will always protect you,
And I will always provide for you,
These I promise before God Most High,
And ask that He assist me in keeping these promises till I die.

Today I give to you three tokens,
My name, my ring, my wife,
That the world may know I honor thee above all others,
Keep these tokens safe in your heart,
That my respect for you may never depart.

Today I give to you three wishes,
Today will pass away and become a memory I will carry into eternity,
Let that memory never be tarnished,
That our alloted time together is cherished and shared in every way,
And that I may pray for you each night and every day.

Today I give you words, tokens and promises,
Tomorrow I give you deeds, gifts from a mortal man,
I promise before God Most High,
And these mortal witnesses that,
I will serve you, as you honor my word,
I will give to you, as you protect my love,
I will forsake all others as you keep my trust.

This day I give you three vows,
That no one will take my love from you,
And that no one will destroy my trust in you,
And if you be true I will always be there for you,
I will stand beside you, but not in your shadow,
So that I may watch you grow.

Preparation

Tomorrow I plan to put "The Wedding Vow" on my blog. It is one of my favorite poems and was written some years ago to try and express how I would feel if ever God granted me the privilege to find the right lady to become my wife. In preparation for that humble work of art please let your mind drift to a distant point in time, to a time of chivalry and romance, a time filled with deeds of valor and imagine if you will it is the night before our gallant knight takes his bride.

Sir Afton and Sir James are sitting just beyond the castle walls in a shady glade watching the sun go down and to be sure his friend is doing the right thing he asks him why he wants to marry this lady above all the rest in the realm. Sir James replies . . .

Word of Wisdom

Underneath the stars of heaven,
Once a gift I was given,
It was a word I heard in prayer,
The name of her who was not there.

In season and in time,
God’s not men’s nor mine,
I knew that through grace,
She to me would come.

To me though I did not understand,
For man cannot see the hidden hand,
Of a fair destiny yet to be,
Of love’s wishes cast upon the amber sea.

The sea of time that unfolds,
Just as the universe’s Master foretold,
I cannot tell you how or why,
I will simply love her till I die.

An angel placed here on earth,
One set above the rest,
To have and to hold from this day forth,
No more may I say of course.

Yet within my heart beats a drum,
That pounds out her name,
And makes it course in every vein,
Till it’s back in my heart again.

Women in the Church

My sister was ordained as an Elder of the Church of Scotland last Sunday and though I was not there to see the event I am very proud of her and her achievement. My brother-in-law was at sea and so could not be there either but he himself is due to be ordained also as an "Elder o' the Kirk" in September. I am equally proud of him too. They have a marriage blessed in heaven and both lead exemplary Christian lives. I have seen many times acts of love and charity they have quietly performed without seeking either praise or reward.

I am spurred by this happy event to comment on women in the church and their role as Christians in society.

My mum was for many years the "Flower Lady" in our little village church. Sadly this is a noble position I have not found at all here in America. The flower lady takes the flowers from the sanctuary after the Sunday service and delivers them to a family in need of comfort or an elderly house-bound person in the parish along with a word of comfort and the latest news about the church.

One Sunday I was blessed to go with my mum on one of these flower lady visits. I learned first hand that it is not always a pleasant or easy task delivering flowers. The lady we visited that day was to my knowledge not a frequent visitor to the church but was on the role as a member. Many churches have people in this situation and do a poor job of keeping in touch with them. On that particular Sunday as we arrived at the ladies door my mum informed me that she was receiving the flowers because her son had been killed in an industrial accident in Australia and my mum felt sure that she would need someone to talk to and the flowers were to let her know that someone was thinking of her. The flowers may or may not brighten her day a little but each time she would look at them she would know that her friends in the church cared about her and her loss.

I still remember that day as my we sat and listened over a cup of tea to the lady tell her sons life story from birth, to wee laddie, to fine young man, to Australian immigrant in search of a better life and the details she had been told of his death. I remember his mothers grief at not being able to be there for the burial of her son. My mum gave words of comfort and understanding that only a widow and a mother could give to the lady and they were greatly appreciated.

That day as we left that sad home more than a few hours later I thought how proud I was of my mum and her role as ambassador for the church in her office as the flower lady to her church.

Here in America sadly elders to my knowledge or at least in my experience do not visit the members in their district nor in many cases does the minister or preacher. Being raised in an environment of pastoral visits I find this strange. Now if you are an elder or a minister reading this before you reach for excuses the minister in my home church in Scotland was blind and would walk to each church members home, sometimes in poor weather, on the arm of his ever loving wife and his sermons written in Braille and read out from the pulpit were better than many I have heard since because he was a man called by God and what he said he truly believed in his heart. People in the pews can tell when a man is inspired by God through the Holy Spirit rather than standing up there for a pay check and retirement fund.

Some say that women should only be allowed to be Deacons in the church and that they should not become elders or ordained ministers. My thought on this is that women should be allowed to become ordained as elders if they are worthy and capable of fulfilling the role of the office. I have never met or heard a lady preach other than Joyce Meyer on the TV but feel that if a lady is truly called of God then she should be allowed to follow that calling.

I know in my bible that it says that God is no respecter of persons and by that I take it He treats us all the same. If you love God and listen to the Holy Spirit and acknowledge His son Jesus Christ as your lord and savior then why should you not be allowed to hold any office in the church? To my knowledge Jesus never treated women like second class citizens and he is what Christianity is all about.

Perfect Gift

Magic Moments

Take a moment to think of me,
As I took a moment to think of you.

And remember that magic moments of the past,
Are reality stored in memory.

But magic moments of the future,
Are dreams to be fullfilled and yet enjoyed.

Time

If a memory is a moment in time,
And a moment in time is a heartbeat.

Then a heartbeat is a second in time,
And a second in time is a kiss.

Then a kiss must be a moment in time,
And a moment in time a memory.

Therefore the memory of your kiss,
Must be a precious moment in time.

Black Women

I saw exploitation of black women on the TV by black males to sell music and make money. I thought this is an interesting subject and started to write but deleted it as Google does not have that much space due to the diverse avenues it can lead a writer to. So here is a simple poem to remind black ladies that the bible acknowledges their integrity, dignity and grace and if my words are inadequate then I apologize.

Biblical Thoughts

In the bathing laughter of your smile,
I stop again and think awhile,
Was this what Moses too did see,
Or Solomon wise as he could be.

What did you look like dark Moabite?
Respected by Most High God,
Wife of the servant of the living Lord,
What inner beauty in you did He see?

Loved by God’s servant here on earth,
On whose humble chest you laid your head,
And in the night were his sweet delight,
Walking by his side throughout your life.

The Queen of the South to Jerusalem came,
And Solomon never was quite the same,
He gave her all her heart desired,
And she to Sheba then retired.

Of Boaz too I stop and think,
And Ruth whom God did bless,
With this man and his caress,
Grandmother of the mighty king.

For a Moabite too was she,
Fair black maiden of the south,
A woman declared for all to see,
Mother of Boaz’s seed.
.
Declaring for the Lord,
Walking with the one true God,
These women make me think,
As I see you look at me and wink.

Faith

I apologize that this picture does not do my alarm clock justice. It is summer and for the month of June the sun rises outside my bedroom window. It starts at as a very fine ribbon running along the tree tops on the far side of the river but it actually rises at 6:30 AM and climbs like a crimson ball of fire flooding my bedroom with a golden light that advances from the far side of my king size bed towards my side.

I was lying in bed this morning watching the sunrise thinking I can understand how ancient man worshiped the creation rather than the creator after all we all look for consistency in our lives and what is more consistent than sunrise? Ancient man put his faith in the fact that the sun would rise each day. Simple but very understandable.

It is funny how it quite clearly tell us in the bible that the earth is round and yet for many centuries people believed that the world was flat. It is also funny that the bible tells of evolution and yet many decry it as heresy. What the bible says if my memory serves me correct is that the earth brought forth according to its kind but God created modern man. Science tries in its futile way to disprove this but the truth remains it is so.

For those who still believe that this is not so let me give you an example. I was told as a child in school that man and the dinosaur did not live on the earth at the same time but that the dinosaur had become extinct before man evolved. If this was so and if fossil records are the foundation of "truth" then how was I able to stand years later as an adult beside a river near Glenrose Texas and look upon the footprint of a man and a dinosaur in the same stone at the same depth and at obviously created at the same time frame. Could the man have been hunting the dinosaur and planning to kill it? He was after all coming up from behind and I cannot imagine the dinosaur was running away from him.

So what does a hunter centuries ago have to do with my special alarm clock. Simple we know that stoneage man worshipped among other things the sun as did the Egyptians and other cultures after them. Were there perhaps people at those times who quietly thought to themselves that there has to be more to life than this?

Now is that not an important thought that leads mankind forward on his quest in search of the true creator of the universe. Each time we expand our wisdom and knowledge of reality along comes some skeptic who says there must be more to life than this and he or she is correct, there is and we call him God.

The microbes we find get ever smaller and the space we examine ever larger and yet still our brain still says there must be more to life than this. Belief in an all knowing supreme creator of the universe and all it contains spans many cultures and many centuries.

The most wondrous and beautiful thing in the universe is your soul dear reader. It surpasses your mind in wonderment. It is there and it believes. Why? Because it knows. You may tell it not to, you may tell it false truths through what you see, hear and experience but always at one point in your life between the beginning and the end you will have to listen to your conscience and accept or deny what your soul is trying to tell you.

You cannot see, hear, touch or smell God and yet you can quite easily believe in Him if you believe that there is more to life than this. My special alarm clock is so regular and accurate that I compare it against an electric one that sits by my bedside. It is completely accurate for thirty days. The sun then starts to move down river again as summer turns to fall and fall becomes winter. As it progresses it rises each morning visible from the living room and breakfast area till it finally reaches the kitchen window in winter ready to turn around and progress back up river again to provide me with my unique alarm clock again the following summer.

So what is all this saying? Simply this that if there is order on the earth and in the universe and there most certainly is then we do not have a series of random events or accidents. What brings order? Intelligence. And where does intelligence of such magnitude exhibit itself in ways that we can see but not fully comprehend. In unchanging universal laws. And so if there are universal laws then who created them?

Our soul calls Him God because from the beginning to the end of its journey here on earth it (our soul)experiences Him in ways that our natural senses cannot or rather are not equipped to and because we know that our soul is real and know that we all have one (even people who do wicked things) we then believe in some form of higher power and belief is the first act of faith leading to trust. What your faith leads you to put your trust in says a lot about you as a person. People pray to God as an act of faith but also as an outward acknowledgement that they are listening to their soul. They are saying to God my soul tells me that I can trust you.

I sincerely hope that you put your trust in God today because if you do not then you are not in harmony with your soul and that robs you of success and happiness. And as the bible says God wants to bless all who believe in Him and seek after Him.

God bless you and yours today.

A Soldiers Tale

I wrote this poem a few years ago for the knights series. It tells of a knights thoughts of his lady on the evening before the battle as he sits alone with his thoughts and a friend.

It was inspired by a true event on the shores of the Rhyne before the crossing by allied forces when my dad met his best friend from our village who had a preminition of his death in battle the next day. Sadly it came true. The lady my dad's friend was thinking of was his mother.

Before the Battle
Thoughts of a Knight

No tear will I shed that day,
On which my spirit fly's away.

No breath, no sign, no kiss today,
Perhaps not even goodbye may I say.

I don't know why our love felt this way,
Natural just like breathing each and every day.

Why one day must it pass,
This love for such a bonnie lass.

Lost in the universe are my dreams,
Sad and neglected now it seems.

Why don't we ever know,
If beyond the grave our love may go.

Birthday Candles

A smart man blows out his candles,
And wishes for no more than to spend,
His old age with a woman who loves him.

A wise man blows out his candles,
And wishes for no more than to spend,
His old age surrounded by his grandchildren.

A blessed man blows out his candles,
And wishes for no more than to spend,
His old age with the wife who lit them.

Sometimes

Sometimes I think about you,
As you do me too,
And when not if we do,
It is a form of I love you.

Each and every day,
Separated we are forced to stay,
Each mourn our time apart,
Deep inside our beating hearts.

I hear you say I love you,
And you hear me say it too,
As one day we will rejoice,
To hold the origin of each voice.

I know not how or when,
But I know you will come again,
And I too will be blessed,
To feel your soft caress.

And all around will say,
You both look happy today,
As we smile with ease,
And to each other cleave.

Distant Shore

At this quiet moment in time,
I stop to write this rhyme,
And pen these words to you,
That God will see you through.

This present moment in time,
Where only my heart and thine,
Can cross the miles we are apart,
And touch you as this day you start.

As I say my little prayer,
That you soon be nearer,
And once again we touch,
Experiencing the love we feel so much.

My love it will not depart,
Keep it deep in your heart,
Write it on its walls,
Keep it safe like sacred scrolls.

And as this day you go through,
Know that I am thinking of you,
And the joy that this thought brings,
Is brighter than the sun in spring.

Humble Origins

You hear people say that he or she came from humble origins but there is no such thing as humble origins.

My sister often says we were poor as children and lived in what people would call humble conditions but we did not know it till someone told us because all of our neighbors lived the same. I would add to that because all we knew as children was that we lived in a house filled with love. The older you get the more you understand the importance that these humble beginnings have on the rest of your life. I mean of course a house filled with love. How many people today are blessed to live in a home filled with love be it rented, in the process of being bought or already owned? The cost of the home is irrelevant relative to the value of the love contained inside.

My sister and I were raised in a village that sat by a loch or as we would say in the US a lake. Funny that she now lives in a house with a burn (stream) running beside it that feeds into the river Clyde and I live over five thousand miles away by a river that flows into a lake. I hope that our children and friends think that we both live in homes filled with love. What a testimonial to leave . . . They created homes filled with love.

The last time I "went home" to Scotland for an aunts funeral I did not recognize the village of my youth. It has now become "the desirable place to live" and the green fields where the majestic Clydesdales walked are filled with concrete freeways called motorways. The woods where we strolled as children at our parents knees collecting brambles for jam and bluebells to brighten the kitchen table lie buried under Harry Potter style houses built by invading English builders creating suburban commuter belt housing for the affluent that the locals cannot afford.

The funny thing is that where I live now in America the same thing is happening. The developers are taking over and selling the lake front property at triple and quadruple the price of five years ago to people from NYC and Florida who are seeking the idyllic spot to live. The locals here too cannot afford the prices. Progress is a funny thing the more things change the more they stay the same.

So where am I leading you dear reader with my thoughts today? I suppose simply to say what Solomon said centuries ago there is nothing new under the sun and if you are blessed to live in a home filled with love be it humble or be it grand thank God for this blessing.

God bless you and yours today!

The King

King David ordered a hit on another man after committing adultery with his wife and yet the bible still calls him a man after God’s own heart. He wrote beautiful psalms praising the Lord God Most High. He predicted the coming of the Messiah and His crucifixion. He was a poet, prophet, soldier, king, husband, father, son, brother, a good steward, a good servant and he is revered as one of the founding fathers of his nation.

It was king David that made Jerusalem his capital. No he did not take it from the Palestinians for there were no Palestinians in those days. The word Palestine was created by the emperor Hadrian centuries after king David had died. In fact anyone living in that Roman province no matter what their ethnic background or religious belief was called a Palestinian because the emperor said so and that included the Jews.

So what makes David so special? Women loved him. Men, especially his enemies, feared him. He was father and mentor to Solomon the wisest man who ever lived. He left his son the first documented trust fund worth, in equivalent terms, billions of dollars to build a great temple to the honor of his God.

His God? Is that what made David different? He loved God from the time he was a humble shepherd until he died as king of all Israel and his love was sincere. Yes he stumbled for we all do but he was quick to repent and to genuinely go and sin no more.

Part of Solomon’s wisdom must have come from his father (David) and his mother (Berth-sheba) though the greatest part of it was a gift from God.

So why is David called “the king”. Is it because he left his son with an empire? Is it because it was he who established the boundaries of historical Israel? Is it because he left behind peace for his son? Why these two terms “A man after God’s own heart” and “the King”.

If you think about David what character traits did he portray when not ashamed of his sin. His word was his bond. He always respected the law and even when confronted with his own wrongdoing he immediately said guilty as charged. David never for a moment tried to deny it when he was “woken up” to reality and asked to look in the mirror.

We all receive wake up calls at some point in our lives. We all are asked to look in the mirror by a loved one or a true friend. It is how you act at that time that makes you “the king”. It is how you live your life everyday that makes you someone after God’s own heart. It is being genuine in all things including love that brings you this high honor. For as Paul writes the greatest of all things is love. David’s love was very evident to everyone let yours be too.

God bless you and yours

Very Special Lady

King David had a few wives and more than a few concubines. One of his wives Abigail is described as follows.

And she was a woman of good understanding and of a beautiful countenance.

1 Samuel 25:3

Abigail is portrayed in the bible as a wise woman doing the right thing even if it meant being disobedient to Nabal her husband’s wishes. She obviously took a liking to David from the beginning calling herself his handmaiden from the first time that she met him. She was also no doubt stroking his ego a little but we also learn from scripture that she was a humble woman and that when told that David wished her to become his wife that she hastened to be with him.

Another and more famous wife does not get quite such good press and yet she was more beautiful and even more intelligent. Her name was Bath-sheba. She is also called the wife of Uri’ah the Hittite. We know that she was very beautiful because the bible tells us so.

And the woman was very beautiful to look upon.

2 Samuel 11:2

Now the difference between beautiful countenance and very beautiful to look upon is significant especially when we consider that the first time we are introduced to her is as the king sees her taking a bath

The fact that she is constantly referred to as the wife of Uri’ah the Hittite is to let no one forget that she was the wife of a man murdered so that another man might posses her for that beauty.

We know that she committed adultery with King David but at his instigation for he was king and the absolute power and she was his subject and as such under his authority and obedient to his demands. Did she love David? I have no doubt that she did come to love him not only as her king but also as her husband.

That love had to be deep for both King David and Bath-sheba had to live the rest of their lives with these two sins as a starting point to their relationship. She also had to bare the loss of the first child she carried in her womb for nine months.

Bath-sheba is often portrayed by many as an evil or wicked woman but I believe this is not so because we are also told in scripture that she honored Uri’ah by mourning him when told of his death and it is unlikely that the king shared with her his decision to arrange things in such a way as to have her husband killed in battle. David brought lust, shame and disgrace to Bath-sheba along with his love for her. She had a lot to forgive him for.

So what makes Bath-sheba so special? Well everyone wants a wife just like her. Puzzled? Let me explain.

How many times have you heard men say I want a Proverbs 31 wife or a woman say I am a Proverbs 31 lady? Just who is the Proverbs 31 lady referred to in the bible? She is Bath-sheba. Bath-sheba had a unique son named Solomon and he is the author of Proverbs thirty-one. What makes him unique well for one thing his names.

Most important people in the bible had two names for example Abram/Abraham; Jacob/Israel; Joseph/Zaph-nath-paane’ah; even Moses must have had two names one given to him by his Hebrew birth mother and another (Moses) by his adoptive Egyptian mother. Why is Solomon then unique? Well he had three names. King David named him Solomon. Nathan the prophet called him Jedidiah and Bath-sheba called him Lemuel.

Proverbs thirty-one begins the words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him. In other words the author of the most famous phrase in Proverbs thirty-one is Bath-sheba.

Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies

Proverbs 31:10

She also gives all men wonderful advice through her son when he writes.

Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman who feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.

Proverbs 31:30

So the next time you look at all the qualities Solomon lists for a good wife please remember that his role model was his mother. Is that why the old song says I want a girl just like the one that married dear old dad?

Perhaps but only if she is as virtuous as Bath-sheba was . . .

CSI Lady

By now if you read my blog you will know that the title and the story take a little time but always end up together.

As a child I asked my mother what are premonitions? I was told by my mum that only Catholics believed in premonitions and that they were dreams of future events. She said that we Presbyterian did not believe in them. I asked if she knew of anyone who had ever had one and she said no. I assume back then I had heard the term on the TV or radio because I did not read much being only ten or eleven at the time.

Needless to say this was forgotten until I had my first premonition at the age of thirteen going on fourteen. I had three dreams in succession which made no sense to me at the time but I shared them with my mum. The first dream was me standing in a crowd of adult males and a man I had never met gave me a card with the number one on it. The second dream was me standing by a hole holding a rope but there were three hands on it mine and someone else's. The third dream was of three women standing crying by a wrought iron fence with shopping (message) bags on their arms.

For those who have not been to Europe, years ago many women had large bags made from leather so that they could carry groceries from the store to their homes.

The dreams all came true on the day of my dad's funeral. The undertaker gave me a card with an imprint of a casket on it and the number one on it. I asked one of my uncles what is this? He told me that as my fathers son I would have cord number one on the casket. I carried that card in my wallet for many years till my mum told me that it was not healthy and my dad would not like me carrying the card.

At the gravesite as we lowered my dad into his grave one of my uncles did not take a cord but stood by me helping me to lower the casket into the grave and so there were three hands on the cord. Two of mine and one of his. I then remembered my dreams and turned to look over my shoulder and there were three women all crying just as in my dream. I later found out that two were sisters and another was a friend of theirs and that all three of them had grown up with my dad in the village and had been his friends since childhood.

You can imagine that after that experience I was a firm believer in premonitions. I have had many since and they now come sometimes while I am awake . I do not understand this nor do I try to. I think it is just one of those things that seems to happen to me.

You have probably experienced something similar for example when someone may be on your mind and they call you on the phone. Why I am so tuned in I do not know as it does not happen all of the time.

I could give more examples but those dreams were obviously my first experience of something greater than me out there communicating with me. I don't know why but I do know that there is more between heaven and earth than fresh air.

So you ask where does a television series fit in?

I was getting ready to go to Las Vegas last year and before I left I was told (in the spirit) that I would meet a beautiful lady. She would have blond hair and be a model but I have never seen her picture and a TV/Movie star but I would have never seen her on screen.

Now when you think that I have almost 800 movies on either DVD or VHS I have seen a lot of ladies in both small bit parts and large important ones. I have also seen and skimmed a lot of magazines waiting for planes in airports.

First day in Vegas I never met anyone. Second day I was walking along when out stepped in front of me the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Not purely from a physical standpoint though she would rate a ten plus. It was her hazel eyes that smiled brighter than sunlight that caught my attention.

We spoke a little and I learned that she was a model and had appeared in a certain well known male magazine which I believe is the number one seller in both the USA and Europe but as I don't buy that type of publication I would never seen her. She also told me that she was not naked and I believed her.

She then told me she had appeared in CSI Las Vegas. At that time I had not seen that show either. No I do not live on another planet I just don't watch that much TV. So again what I knew was going to happen did. My thought was why as I beliebe there is a reason for almost everything in life.

Tonight as I write this what I remember most about her is not her physical beauty but her inner beauty. She put me in mind of the most interesting lady in the bible (I will write of her tomorrow evening) who was described as very beautiful but was also very wise indeed as I will later explain.

What did the CSI lady as I call her say to me to leave such an impression? I asked if she wanted to go to Hollywood and marry a big movie star one day. Her reply was "No I am not interested because they all run around on their girlfriends and cheat on their wives and I want a man who will be faithful."

Now if that was not a Proverbs 31 lady speaking I don't know anything.

Well I returned home and confirmed with my friend who I had told before I left that I had met her. I still remember her and know that out there in New York, Los Angeles or Las Vegas where she travels one day a lucky man will hold her hand and on that day he will have found a lady more precious than rubies. I trust that he will have the wisdom to know that he has found her. . .

I am sure that she has forgotten her short conversation with the man with the funny accent but he has not forgotten her or her important words of wisdom.

And let me tell you of another time,
And a lady who was a friend of mine,
Though we spoke for such a brief amount of time,
Her words are captured in this heart of mine.

Investing

Why do we invest? For college or retirement? For a new home or new car? For your children or grandchildren? The reason varies depending on your season in life, your ambition and your goals.

Why do some people collect vast fortunes and others almost nothing? If we ignore those that inherited a fortune, which in most countries of the world is a tiny minority, then all the rest who are rich created their fortune in their own lifetime. In the United States of America, the epitome of capitalism, where more fortunes have been created in the last two hundred years than in any other country in the world still some accumulate and others do not. What prevents those that do not accumulate and assists those who do?

Let the wisest man who ever lived answer on my behalf.

For wisdom is better than rubies: and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.

Proverbs 8:11

Riches and honor are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold yea, than fine gold; and my revenue than choice silver.

Proverbs 8: 18 & 19

That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures.

Proverbs 8: 21


The answer? Wisdom. Financial wisdom. Why if it is so important is it not taught in high school or college? Yes you can become a CPA but many CPA’s work for people who never went to college. You can become a Certified Financial Planner or a Financial Adviser yet these too mostly work for others who have accumulated wealth and may or may not be as well educated as them. Generally speaking the better educated a person is the better chance they have of earning money but not necessarily accumulating wealth. Why is this? Lack of wisdom in financial decision-making is the main answer.

Wealthy people do not necessarily have a high income, in fact some high-income people couldn’t write a check for $5,000.00. People who are wealthy, either themselves, or their ancestors, have been able to save out of their previous income. If you spend all of your annual income during the year, then your wealth cannot increase, but if you save 2/10 or 20% of your gross income then your wealth will increase.

I have met people with net worth’s of $600,000 plus, who never earned over $34,000 per year their whole working lives. How did they do it? It is quite simple; they saved and put their money (Talents) to work.

Jesus said that the poor will always be with you and as we look around the world today we see that this is still true a few thousand years later. In this day of instant access you may wonder why? But with instant access comes instant excess and this is one main reason. Bad habits create bad debt and bad debt creates poverty. In some countries the poor have no choices because their corrupt governments rob them but in the USA almost anyone has the opportunity to become financially independent.

So why do so many not achieve this? Well for a start it is boring or at least it should be while you are laying the foundation to your wealth through index funds, bank CD’s, and other “safe investments”. If you examine the portfolios of the rich you will find many of them in tax-exempt funds charging minimal fees with low trading expenses and operating costs.

So how do you become an investor? Simple first become a saver. Just as losing weight is a simple combination of eating less and moving more so becoming rich is a simple combination of saving more and spending less.

The only path to success lies in saving one dollar at a time so ask yourself what utilization will this purchase bring me? And what is the cost of that utilization. Everything you do has a cost be that hidden or obvious. Please get in the habit of saying to you what are both the short and the long-term cost of this decision. What is the chance of success or failure of this investment?

And remember above all you have to give to receive so ask yourself why do smart intelligent people give away money? The answer like everything else is written in your heart.

Where do you live?

I am frequently asked where do you live? And my answer is always the same in the piney woods. People drive past my home on the front or sail past on the back and still they say where do you live?

I smile and repeat my favorite story told to me by a dear friend who lives in Florence, Italy.

Cosimo De'Medici wanted a country house built and so he asked the most famous architect in Italy to draw up the plans. When the day arrived for Cosimo to review the drawings the architect was stunned when Cosimo said "I don't like it."

The architect asked the richest man in Europe if not the world at the time. What is wrong? Did I not use enough marble, gold, silver, bronze is there something that is too cheap? No said Cosimo you do not understand. "It is not discrete". People passing by should think that it is just another house but those (my friends) whom I invite in are the only ones who should see its opulence . . . .